"It's going to be one of the greatest Tours ever" - Tadej Pogacar excited for Tour de France showdown with Vingegaard, Roglic & Evenepoel among others
Cycling
The 2024 Tour de France is here and it is easily one of the most hotly anticipated editions on the Grand Tour in a very long time. Ahead of the race, UAE Team Emirates' Tadej Pogacar starts as favourite as he looks to reclaim the Maillot Jaune after two successive years as runner-up.
"The shape is good. Everything went smoothly, more or less, in preparation. So yeah, I'm happy where I am," the UAE Team Emirates leader reveals in conversation with Wielerflits as he gets his pre-Tour de France haircut. "This year, I can really feel the energy around me for this Tour is much more positive and I feel really, really good!"
Whilst this time around it is Pogacar's main rival, Jonas Vingegaard who has had to battle injury in order to make the Grand Depart, twelve months ago it was Pogacar himself who was in a similar position. "Last year, a lot of people were doubting if I could recover and be in good shape for the Tour," he recalls. "For sure, this was also a factor for why there was a bit of negativity. But also, I didn't believe in myself enough. Last year there was a really short period of time where I needed to gain back what I lost and it was a really tough training period, maybe I over-trained. You aren't happy when you're at the limit all the time."
This year, there is also the added wrinkle that it's not just a head to head battle between Pogacar and Vingegaard for the Maillot Jaune. For the first time ever, all of cycling's so called 'Big 4' (Pogacar, Vingegaard, Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel ed.) will be present at the start line of a Grand Tour.
"I think in a few years, we will look back to this start line and whatever happens in this Tour, it's going to be one of the greatest Tours ever," Pogacar previews, doing nothing to dampen the expectations of fans. "Maybe we say this every year, but with this lineup, if everything goes well and everybody is ready, it's going to be a great battle and an amazing Tour de France."
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling for
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment